A Rush of Heat
by pokemon fan 98
Summary: Introspective tag to 4x15. Killer Frost's thoughts as she tries to fix the situation.


**A/N: I had to write down what I thought went through Frost's head during her scene with Barry and the other speedsters in this episode. Hope you like it!**

Frost sees Flash standing in front of her, his hand on her shoulder, and assesses the situation in a second to gain control of it. "I see all these frozen people around me, Flash, and this time it's not my fault," she says with a smile.

Flash isn't joking around, though. "We need your help."

She sees the other two speedsters, and in the back of her mind a seed of worry starts to form. "Three of you now. What's going on?"

"The cargo in that container-," Flash starts, but the one with the helmet cuts him off.

"It's a nuclear bomb."

"Yeah and it went ka-boom," the third finishes.

Frost falters in her façade of total confidence for a second as terror registers in her brain, though she knows the others can't tell from her expression. She's always been good at hiding things. "Dandy," she says, as though this is something much, much lighter.

"Come here," Flash says, leading her towards the bomb. As they walk closer she feels the change in the air. It doesn't affect her, but she knows it's much warmer than where they were standing before. Seeing the bomb, seemingly frozen mid-explosion… it makes that little seed of worry start to grow.

"It's toasty in here," she comments, to distract herself.

"We need you to cool it down," Flash tells her. He seems completely serious, but her first reaction is disbelief, because of how absurd it is.

"You want me to cool down a nuclear reaction that's already gone critical?" she laughs, but it fades quickly as she studies the others' faces. "You're actually serious."

"Quickly please, Miss Frost."

She swallows her fear and readies her hands. "Alright. Let's give it a whirl."

She summons a blast of cold, directed at the device, and for a second it seems to be working. But the ice doesn't even reach the device before it melts, and her powers seem to sputter out. She looks at the explosion carefully. "Didn't go quite as I expected it," she says, unable to keep a little trace of concern from her voice.

The explosion suddenly expands, the color completely changing. She knows what it means, and her body seems to stiffen.

"Try again," Flash says, softer. She can hear in his voice how much he needs this to work, and she agrees with him. She readies her hands again, sending out a wave of cold as focused as she can make it, but this attempt is even shorter than the first. The ice breaks and melts as soon as it leaves her hands, the flow of her powers slowing immediately. A foreign feeling hits as she stops using her powers, and the shock of it doubles her over in pain. She wraps one arm around her side as she feels it, caught completely off guard. Her body feels strange and shaky, and there's perspiration forming on the back of her neck. It takes a few short seconds for her to realize what the feeling is:

Heat.

"Oh no, no," she hears Flash say to himself.

"So that's what heat feels like," she says. She never thought she would experience it. The initial rush of pain she'd felt is gone, although the heat is still oppressive and uncomfortable. But that's not her main concern now. Her concern is the effect the heat is having on her. She's slightly panicked, really, by how quickly the temperature has affected her. And how completely. She can't use her powers. The bomb sitting right in front of her is going off as she stares at it, thanks to the Flash's hand on her shoulder, and her powers - the only solution she can see - have failed. She's failed.

Flash leans in closer, looking at her carefully. "You're burning up. Come on." He leads her away from the bomb, back to where she had been standing before, next to Cisco. "Alright, it's okay." He looks at her, and she can see that he's trying to appear confident. She sees right through it, knows he is beyond worried and scared, but finds the attempt comforting anyway. Caitlin trusts him to always save the day, and Frost has to believe he will. "I have to let you go, alright?" he says.

" _Barry –,_ " she says in a pleading tone, before he can move away. She knows the fear and desperation are clear in her voice, and that, combined with using his real name, makes him stop and really look at her. She looks back at him without a mask on her face, completely sincere as she voices the thought that's been on her mind since she learned about the bomb. _"Don't let Caity die_."

He nods and starts to take his hand away, and everything stops.


End file.
